Need help with first handgun

Greetings my name is Edward from Clarksville, TN and I'm looking for my first handgun.

Ok, a few weeks ago I went into the gun store and asked what would be a good gun for a first timer to practice with and was told a .22 was what I need and showed me the Smith and Wesson m&p .22 would be his top pick. I thanked him and went and researched the guns and besides the m&p another one that came up was the Ruger sr22 which I also looked at the store.

I've got it narrowed down to these two. The S&W is good cause of the size if I want to move up a caliber but, I like how the Rugers price and you get two mags with it. What are your thoughts and thanks for your help.

Need help with first handgun

Those are both fine 22s. You might also want to check out the Ruger MkIII. 22/45 and the Browning Buckmark. Walther also makes a good 22 pistola - it's the one Ruger copied for the SR-22.

I own a Rughr MkII, and while it's fun to shoot, it's a PIA to reassemble after cleaning.

My next .22 pistol will be a revolver - the 8-shot Ruger SP-101 22. The beauty of the revolver is you can shoot a variety of .22 ammo - you're not limited to .22LR only like you are in a semi-auto handgun.

Either the Ruger SR22 or the S&W M&P 22 are an excellent choice for training and you can increase caliber and stay with the platform. Another option although more expensive would be a 1911 .45 caliber with an .22 exchange kit for practice.

I have the M&P .22 and it is a great gun. I shoot this gun every weekend at the range and enjoy it very much. I also have the M&P 9mm FS, 9mmc, .40 Cal FS and the M&P .22 just fits the collection. I would recommend the M&P .22 to anyone.

For years shooters either had to have a dedicated .22 pistol of one brand or a .22 conversion for a gun they had. The selection of conversion kits was narrowed to the 1911 pretty much and they were only made by a couple of places.
In the last few years many manufactures have started producing .22 conversions for many different types of guns such as the Glock and SIG or started making production guns that mimic there full size guns. I have some of both. I have the M&P .22 pistol, 9mm full size, 9mm Shield and the M&P .45 along with 1911's and Glocks with conversion kits. Even with my rifles I have .22 versions of them to practice with or to train new shooters or my kids shoot them.

Such is the case with the M&P and Ruger. The guns are simply .22 caliber versions of their full size guns. Controls are the same, grips, safeties and so on (generally speaking) so once you have practiced with these the next logical step is to get the full size service caliber of the same model. Dedicated .22 pistols like the Ruger MK III and the Browning are great guns. Accurate, reliable and fun to shoot however should you eventually go with a larger caliber you would have to change make and models each with a separate set of new controls to learn.

Many are of the mindset that new shooters should keep things as simple as they can. One gun, one set of controls to master, carry the weapon in the same place every time, if carrying concealed, and so on. Once experience is gained then you can carry or shoot whatever you wanted. I am of the opinion it is just like switching from a manual transmission to an automatic it is a training issue. You simply master one before moving onto the other.